For The Numismatist In Us - 1

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Originally uploaded by avnerijr.

For you out there who are into numismatics, (and who is it who does not love money?), the case of the history of the Philippines may be a good study on how the “coin of the realm” evolves to its present forms, typically to forms that are not worth the paper or metal they are printed or minted on.

The Philippines underwent through the travails of being under two colonizers, one maybe considered despotic and the other maybe, benign.

The two countries involved were Spain and the United States.

Naturally, these two named countries circulated their own currencies in the islands, either as part of the realm and thus using the coins of the realm, or as a separate entity and thus, minting its own currency for its own purposes. The later was the case with the US.

Anyway, this first graphic shows what the typical native way back in the 1700s and 1800s may have been clutching in his/her hand on the way to market, typically made of silver and some copper. Imagine that large coin dated 1742 could have been held at some point in the breast pocket of a man of nobility assigned in the islands.